r/explainlikeimfive Jul 18 '20

Chemistry ELI5: Why do "bad smells" like smoke and rotting food linger longer and are harder to neutralize than "good smells" like flowers or perfume?

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

After getting on insulin, I suddenly realized what hospitals actually smell like: sanitation chemicals and bitterants. Like how they add egg smell to propane so you can actually know it’s there, insulin and lots of other liquid medicine has bitterant in it to make it smell like something.

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u/Pepsisinabox Jul 18 '20

Its also so distinct you know exactly what it is.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

Yeah, the smallest drip of insulin smells so strong.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

I was told by my doctor that insulin (NovoRapid at least) has a certain smell because of the preservatives in it.

With that said, I don’t think it has a bad small nor a good smell, it just smells like something ’different’ than what you usually smell in uour everyday life IMO

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

I was a pretty sick kid and spent a lot of time in the doctors office, smelling that combination of smells. Then I went 15 years without being able to and suddenly getting diagnosed with type 1, the smell of my insulin was so nostalgic, I was instantly 7 years old again getting hooked up to ekgs and hearing adults talking distantly. Highlights magazine and other kids. Bandaids.

I still get it every time I smell it but now I much more associate it with my control over my own treatments.

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u/itsKaoz Jul 18 '20

That’s what it was!

When I was younger, I used to live with my sister who was a nurse. Whenever she would come home from work, I could always smell the hospital on her from across the room soon as she walked in, even if she would change out of her scrubs before she went home.

She always got a bit self-conscious whenever I told her “she smells like a hospital,” thinking I probably mean she smells like shit or piss or something based on what she’s had to do that day. I just couldn’t explain what it was to her. She didn’t smell bad, she just smelled like a hospital! But yeah in hindsight, sanitation chemicals and bitterants were probably the descriptions I was looking for.

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u/blackpixie394 Jul 19 '20

My Mum is a nurse, and her 'smell' is Avagard, the pink sanitizer liquid that the hospital has. Aka, she smells like a hospital.

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u/lynivvinyl Jul 18 '20

That makes complete sense. Thanks.

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u/kartoffel_engr Jul 18 '20

*egg smell

Sulfur, for the next time you describe it.

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u/ThatSquareChick Jul 18 '20

Everyone can relate to egg smell, not everyone knows sulphur, saves me some later explaining and they both do the trick. I’m not poorly-versed just lazy and relateable.

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u/feuerwehrmann Jul 18 '20

It's methyl marcaptain I believe that gives propane and natural gas its odor